Conferences & Symposia

The Baltimore City Historical Society's Third Annual Workshop for Baltimore Historians

Friday May 4, 2007

9 a.m. - 1 p.m.Westminster Hall517 W. Fayette StreetBaltimore, MD

Twentieth century lynchings on Maryland's Eastern Shore captured the attention of the media state-wide. Court rooms served as a stage for the public drama, and the press coverage became part of the story.

The Workshop will discuss the news accounts of these public trials and consider how they may have instigated the carnage or calmed the crowd, disguised the miscreants or exposed the wrongdoers, exposed the racial violence or denied that it occurred. It will consider the differences in the treatment of the news to be found in the Baltimore press, (Sunpaper and Afro American) from those on the Maryland Shore (Salisbury Times, Cambridge Daily Banner, Worcester Democrat).

In a broader sense the Workshop will ponder the difficulty of the task faced by the historian when reconstructing the truth of racial violence, and documenting the vigilante assaults on the rule of law. For the ongoing effort to document lynchings in Maryland, visit: Judge Lynch's Court at: http://www.mdslavery.net/.

The workshop will take place in the historic Westminster Hall at the corner of Fayette and Greene Street in downtown Baltimore. The Hall sits atop the Western Burying Ground wherein lies Edgar Allan Poe. It will feature the announcement of the winner of the 2006 Joseph Arnold Prize for Outstanding Writing on Baltimore History and the award of the prize generously provided by Thomas C. and Nancy B. Martel. After the workshop is over guided tours of the Burying Ground will be available and participants may enjoy lunch at the World Famous Lexington Market, located just one block away.

The cost of the workshop is $10, students receive free admission. Click here to register online.